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NEW YORK TIMES

Blog

As a follow-up to his “American Idiot” musical now on Broadway, Green
Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said on Sunday night that he’d like to try
his hand at creating an original musical with Michael Mayer, the
director of “American Idiot.” The two men, interviewed as part of The
Times’s Arts & Leisure Weekend, said they had no definite plans,
but Mr. Armstrong rhapsodized frequently about this first experience
with theater — creating “American Idiot” with Mr. Mayer (“Spring
Awakening”) and now performing in the show through late February as the
malevolent character St. Jimmy.

“I think I’d be interested in the future of really getting into
writing specifically for a show, that’s something I’d really love to
do,” said Mr. Armstrong, the lead singer of the band Green Day, whose
2004 album “American Idiot” formed the basis of the musical. “The kind
of music that I like is very immediate and very catchy, and you
identify with it quickly, and I try to write that way. And in musical
theater it’s the same thing: you identify with the songs immediately,
the good ones anyway.”

Asked if they had any specific ideas for a show, the two men
indicated that they did not, though Mr. Mayer said, “We’ve got a little
Rolodex we go through.”

They are also working to create a film version of “American Idiot.”
Mr. Mayer said: “We’re definitely in talks. There are people who have
the ability to make it happen, who have expressed genuine interest in
it, and we want to do it, so I think it could happen.” He declined to
identify the potential producers, but news reports said that the
Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman were interested.

On the matter of playing St. Jimmy in a film, Mr. Armstrong smiled
and shrugged and said nothing, but Mr. Mayer chimed in: “I think that’s
a no-brainer.”

As a follow-up to his “American Idiot” musical now on Broadway, Green
Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said on Sunday night that he’d like to try
his hand at creating an original musical with Michael Mayer, the
director of “American Idiot.” The two men, interviewed as part of The
Times’s Arts & Leisure Weekend, said they had no definite plans,
but Mr. Armstrong rhapsodized frequently about this first experience
with theater — creating “American Idiot” with Mr. Mayer (“Spring
Awakening”) and now performing in the show through late February as the
malevolent character St. Jimmy.

“I think I’d be interested in the future of really getting into
writing specifically for a show, that’s something I’d really love to
do,” said Mr. Armstrong, the lead singer of the band Green Day, whose
2004 album “American Idiot” formed the basis of the musical. “The kind
of music that I like is very immediate and very catchy, and you
identify with it quickly, and I try to write that way. And in musical
theater it’s the same thing: you identify with the songs immediately,
the good ones anyway.”

Asked if they had any specific ideas for a show, the two men
indicated that they did not, though Mr. Mayer said, “We’ve got a little
Rolodex we go through.”

They are also working to create a film version of “American Idiot.”
Mr. Mayer said: “We’re definitely in talks. There are people who have
the ability to make it happen, who have expressed genuine interest in
it, and we want to do it, so I think it could happen.” He declined to
identify the potential producers, but news reports said that the
Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman were interested.

On the matter of playing St. Jimmy in a film, Mr. Armstrong smiled
and shrugged and said nothing, but Mr. Mayer chimed in: “I think that’s
a no-brainer.”